LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities are investigating the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to see whether top church officials tried to cover up the sexual abuse of minors by priests, said a person familiar with the matter.

A federal grand jury has issued subpoenas and begun calling witnesses in the probe, which began late last year, said this person. The investigation is still in its early, fact-gathering stage, and it isn't known whether any criminal charges will result.

With the Grand jurors taking their seats to hear testimony against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati relating to their failure to report the misdeeds of priests, the archdiocese quickly sought an to end their legal problems. On November 20, 2003 the Archbishop Daniel E. Pilaczyk appeared before Common Plea Judge Richard Niehaus. Judge Niehaus asked the Archbishop if he understood what he was pleading no contest to. Looking pale, the archbishop stood before the judge and answered, "Right." With that one word answer the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and its Archbishop have brought the Roman Catholic Church to a status of guilty of breaking the law of Ohio and the United States.

Legal battle leads to records release in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- After nearly three years of legal wrangling, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has released information from the personnel files of 126 clergy accused of sexual abuse.

The confidential records show that for more than 75 years the nation's largest archdiocese shipped accused priests between therapy and new assignments, often ignoring parishioners' complaints.

And, in many cases, there was little mention of child molestation. Instead, euphemisms such as "boundary violations" were used to describe the conduct.

Bishop: 'Very sobering and important milestone'

The survey, to be released February 27, found that children made more than 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse by priests. The 4,450 accused priests represent about 4 percent of the 110,000 priests who served during the 52 years covered by the study.

The report is based on a nationwide survey of church records, and was compiled by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the conference. The bishops' conference commissioned the survey to get a better understanding of the scope of the crisis.

The woman called with a tale of abuse by a member of the church, and my mind raced through the reams of horror stories I have read in recent weeks: Priest befriends parish family, grooms the child, then abuses him or her. Silence is kept until years pass and memories surge up " ” and our collective faith is rattled like a loose door in a hurricane.

Flying in the faces of mounting victims of pedophile within the Catholic Church, three disgraced Melbourne Catholic priests -- a pedophile, a fornicator and a third convicted of violence -- have received a form of pardon from the Vatican in Rome.

This decision overturns former Melbourne Archbishops George Pell decision to remove any form of entitlement these priests receive from the church. As a result of this Vatican decision these priests can now receive about $13000A a year for a living stipend. When asked about being overturned Archbishop Pell referred this to his successor in Melbourne, Archbishop Dennis Hart.